TV PILOT
One life, three extraordinary trajectories of survival, intellectual defiance, and artistic rebirth.
TV PILOT -- SYNOPSIS
THE REAL STORY ~ A Remarkable Life
This is the true story of Claude Regis Vargo, who grew up in Bay Village, Ohio, where his family ran a modest delicatessen. In 1967 he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served two combat tours in Vietnam as a tank gunner and tank commander, including the 77-day siege of Khe Sanh. Claude hand-carved his cave out of solid granite at the Rock Quarry outpost, where he received his first Purple Heart, and wrote love-verses on the backs of C-ration cartons to his future wife. After his medical discharge in 1969, he married his childhood sweetheart, Gloria, now married 55 years. They raised four children, Christina, Dennis, Travis, and Amanda, while working two jobs each in restaurants, airlines, and real estate for decades. In 1997, at almost fifty, he enrolled as a college freshman at three schools in the same semester. Claude graduated summa cum laude in 1999, with a master’s in 2000. Later, he embraced his resilient life in the upcoming memoir
Warrior Graduate. Running Through Fire: The Many Lives of Claude Regis Vargo is the TV adaptation.
FINDING REDEMPTION
After escaping a troubled youth and surviving two of the bloodiest sieges of the Vietnam War, a trauma-riddled Marine battles severe PTSD and brain injuries to conquer elite academia—finding redemption fifty years in the making.
ABOUT THE CREATOR
CLAUDE Vargo
Claude's journey is anything but ordinary. A Summa Cum Laude graduate (B.S., M.H.M. in Hospitality Management), who pursued advanced studies at Cornell (Hotel Finance), Harvard (Visual Arts & Architecture), and the Sorbonne (French Language & Culture). He is also a highly decorated U.S. Marine Corps combat Tank Commander who has inspired countless veterans through public speaking, offering them hope through his powerful memoir, Warrior Graduate.
After years of consulting for global, multi-billion-dollar hotel brands, raising a dynamic family, Claude turned his creative focus to songwriting, constantly seeking his stories to tell. Never one to sit still, Claude Regis Vargo is a genre-blending music creator whose eclectic catalog spans Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, Country, Gospel, and Jazz. Available on Spotify, Songbay, and major streaming platforms, his songs carry a distinct poetic depth and global touch at Xregiis.com.
ABOUT THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
JUSTIN KOHLAS
Justin Kohlas is a screenwriter and producer with over a decade of experience in television, film, and independent production. He is the founder of Kimbermark, a full-service independent production company specializing in development, production, IP adaptation, and professional script consulting. Kimbermark recently completed its first film, Hide, which premiered at the 25th Anniversary of Screamfest, was nominated for Best Thriller at the prestigious Nightmares Film Festival, had its Pacific Northwest premiere at Portland Horror Film Festival, and was an official selection at the Oscar qualifying 50th Cleveland International Film Festival.
He has also secured television and film rights to multiple bestselling novels. One of which, The Moonlight Child by Karen McQuestion (top three thriller on Amazon three years in a row) is currently in pre-production and will star Academy award winner Melissa Leo alongside Yellowstone and Coyote Ugly star Piper Perabo. In addition, he’s also in pre-production on the New York Times bestseller The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainier by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan, which is set up with Oscar-winning producer Evan Hayes (Free Solo) at Unreasonable Studios (The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson #1 doc on Netflix).
TV PILOT EXCERPTS
THEMATIC STATEMENT
Running Through Fire: The Many Lives of Claude Regis Vargo is a visceral exploration of memory, madness, the fragile boundary of human sanity, and the transformative power of art and intellect. The pilot and series trace the extraordinary journey of Claude Regis Vargo, a tank commander who survived the hellish violence of two bloody sieges, only to find himself navigating the fractured corridors of a psychiatric ward.
The series is ultimately a story of rebirth—the showcasing how highest academic pursuit becomes a scaffold for rebuilding a shattered mind, and how songwriting transforms buried horrors into universal truth. Through scholarly discipline and musical expression, Claude turns intellect and creative composition into the ultimate weapons to reclaim his humanity, master his inner battles, and define a legacy that transcends war.
STORIES THAT SHAPED THE VISION
TV Pilot REFERENCES
Band of Brothers ~ Damian Lewis, Donnie Wahlberg & David Schwimmer
From basic training to the end of World War Two, a newly formed company of American paratroopers fights across Europe, facing grueling combat missions and the ultimate test of brotherhood.
Good Will Hunting ~ Matt Damon, Robin Williams & Ben Affleck
A brilliant but troubled janitor at MIT is discovered to have a genius-level intellect but must confront his past and find direction in life with the help of a compassionate psychology professor.
Forrest Gump ~ Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise & Sally Field
A kind-hearted and simple-minded man from Alabama accidentally witnesses and influences several defining historical events in the United States during the twentieth century while seeking the love of his childhood sweetheart.
STORIES THAT INSPIRED THE JOURNEY
MARKETING GRID
TV PILOT – WHY NOW?
Vietnam veterans specifically carry the longest version of this. A federal follow-up study found that roughly 271,000 of them still have full or partial PTSD, more than forty years after they came home. The war didn't get easier with time. It just got further away. While 1.5 million Vietnam veterans were alive a decade ago, only about 610,000 are still alive today, and that number gets smaller every year. This is a story about what happens after the uniform comes off, and it's more relevant right now than it's been in decades.
For the men, it is defined by raw combat and accomplishing goals in chaos; for the women who find strength and bonds of love amid the turmoil. This is a look at what life demands long after the noise of battle fades— a reality that remains just as pressing today as the day they returned.
